Galen Rupp chases 10,000-meter dreams in U.S. Olympic trials

FACTBOX

EUGENE -- Galen Rupp's turn at the U.S. Olympic trials
has arrived. Oregon's most promising distance runner,
perhaps, since the late Steve Prefontaine, will attempt to
make the U.S. team in the 10,000 meters at 9:20 tonight.

When he's through, cue the fireworks.

Rupp, a 22-year-old from Portland, has anticipated this
moment for four years.

After setting U.S. high school records at 3,000 and 5,000
meters in the summer after his graduation from Central
Catholic, Rupp's journey into elite running has been
marked by breathtaking performances punctuated by occasional
illness, minor injuries and a near tragedy. He has helped
fuel a new running boom in Eugene as a member of
Oregon's track team and last summer raced at the World
Championships.

He left the University of Oregon last December to devote
himself full time to training for his first chance to make
the Olympic team. A top-three finish will achieve that goal,
but Rupp wants to give something more to the Hayward Field
crowd of nearly 21,000.

"I want to win the Olympic trials," Rupp said this
spring. "I've got to be able to respond and be
ready for any type of race."

Rupp's place among the university's pantheon of
great runners is not determined -- and a spot on the Olympic
team is not a given -- but his impact over the past
half-decade has been significant. Without him, the U.S.
Olympic Track and Field Trials might never have come back to
Eugene, particularly this year.

In 2004, before the events that brought the trials to
Hayward Field again, Rupp ran on the Nike campus in a mile
race to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Roger
Bannister's historic sub-four minute feat.

Rupp, then a senior at Central Catholic, ran 4:01.8 that day to smash a long-standing Oregon high school record....

Galen Rupp chases 10,000-meter dreams in U.S. Olympic trials

FACTBOX

EUGENE -- Galen Rupp's turn at the U.S. Olympic trials
has arrived. Oregon's most promising distance runner,
perhaps, since the late Steve Prefontaine, will attempt to
make the U.S. team in the 10,000 meters at 9:20 tonight.

When he's through, cue the fireworks.

Rupp, a 22-year-old from Portland, has anticipated this
moment for four years.

After setting U.S. high school records at 3,000 and 5,000
meters in the summer after his graduation from Central
Catholic, Rupp's journey into elite running has been
marked by breathtaking performances punctuated by occasional
illness, minor injuries and a near tragedy. He has helped
fuel a new running boom in Eugene as a member of
Oregon's track team and last summer raced at the World
Championships.

He left the University of Oregon last December to devote
himself full time to training for his first chance to make
the Olympic team. A top-three finish will achieve that goal,
but Rupp wants to give something more to the Hayward Field
crowd of nearly 21,000.

"I want to win the Olympic trials," Rupp said this
spring. "I've got to be able to respond and be
ready for any type of race."

Rupp's place among the university's pantheon of
great runners is not determined -- and a spot on the Olympic
team is not a given -- but his impact over the past
half-decade has been significant. Without him, the U.S.
Olympic Track and Field Trials might never have come back to
Eugene, particularly this year.

In 2004, before the events that brought the trials to
Hayward Field again, Rupp ran on the Nike campus in a mile
race to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Roger
Bannister's historic sub-four minute feat.

Rupp, then a senior at Central Catholic, ran 4:01.8 that day to smash a long-standing Oregon high school record....